Made in the USA

The week of July 4: Fireworks, baseball and roadside body-cavity searches.

Copyright 2013: Houston Chronicle

Updated 11:52 pm, Friday, July 5, 2013

Photo: J. Patric Schneider, Freelance

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Jesus Flores walks through the O on David Adickes latest artwork.

Jesus Flores walks through the O on David Adickes latest artwork.

Photo: J. Patric Schneider, Freelance

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Filipe Torres raises the H on David Adickes latest artwork, a 30 foot tall I heart Houston sign, near Interstate 10 and Patterson on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, in Houston. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle ) less

Filipe Torres raises the H on David Adickes latest artwork, a 30 foot tall I heart Houston sign, near Interstate 10 and Patterson on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, in Houston. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle ... more

Photo: J. Patric Schneider, Freelance

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Music at the city's Freedom over Texas fireworks celebration was heavier on pop than patriotism. Where was the John Phillips Sousa, the Yankee Doodle? Sure, we love the theme from Skyfall - but since when is James Bond an American icon? Isn't July Fourth about declaring our independence from the Brits?

After two years of hot pursuit culminating in an elaborate sales pitch this week from owner Les Alexander, general manager Daryl Morey and a who's who of Houston Rockets past and present, it appears the NBA team has landed its next great center, Dwight Howard. For those who don't know a basketball from a golf ball, Howard is one of the NBA's preeminent big men and will make an immediate difference. It would only be better if more than 40 percent of Houston could see them on television.

A Little League game between the League City Americans and the Santa Fe All Stars turned so nasty on Monday evening that the Texas City police were called. Fans of the All Stars, who lost 8-0, suspected that an Americans bat had been dishonorably modified. An All Stars coach threw the bat in question on the ground, cracking its barrel. Said bat has been sent to Little League national headquarters in Pennsylvania for inspection.

Sculptor David Adickes, creator of the giant Sam Houston statue on I-45 outside Huntsville, began erecting a new sculpture on a piece of his property that faces I-10 near to downtown. The sculpture, 30 feet tall, will involve multi-colored trees flanking letters and a symbol that spell, "We [Heart] Houston." David Thompson, co-founder of the "Houston, It's Worth It" campaign, pronounced the piece derivative of "I [Heart] NY" and suggested that instead, perhaps Adickes should erect twin towers: One that says, "We [Heart] Houston," the other, "If Only Outsiders Did."

Texas Rangers designated hitter (and former Astro) Lance Berkman will donate a fire truck to West, Texas, tonight, capping off the City of West Night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Fans attending the game are asked to bring new or "slightly used" baseball gear for use in youth programs in West. (Note to the Astros: Your bats qualify. No one suspects that they've been corked.)

One state trooper was fired and another suspended for their roles in roadside (roadside!) body-cavity searches of two bikini-clad women suspected of possessing marijuana. After a Memorial Day 2012 trip to Surfside Beach, Brandy Hamilton and Alexandria Randle were stopped for speeding on Texas 288. The troopers' dashboard camera recorded the 40-minute ordeal, during which trooper Nathaniel Turner told Hamilton and Randle that a female trooper "is about to get up-close and personal with some womanly parts." Upping the ick factor: Officer Jennie Bui, the lawsuit says, used the same gloves for both women.

Chevron announced plans to build a 50-story office tower, creating an "urban campus" downtown. The other two components of the campus, 1500 Louisiana and 1400 Smith, are the Buildings Formerly Known As Enron.

At 2:30 a.m. Friday, July 5, a man in northeast Harris County asked a neighbor to stop shooting off fireworks. The neighbor refused, and as the argument escalated, the neighbor lobbed a Molotov cocktail-like device at the first man's house, sparking a fire on the roof.